


A Different Ending

by dianesmalone



Category: Cheers
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Fluff, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-12-27 03:21:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18295820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dianesmalone/pseuds/dianesmalone
Summary: A different ending to Cheers in which Diane decides to get off the plane and run back to the bar because she wants to be with Sam.





	A Different Ending

Sam walks out of the pool room once again and look around at the now empty bar. He was reflecting on his life as he did some extra cleaning. Recalling some memories he had from his baseball days such as when he met Coach. Coach. That was someone who he missed every single day. 

He never quite thanked Coach enough for sticking by his side through his drunken period of life. He regretted not doing so, not giving enough back to Coach.

Sam’s thoughts shift to eleven years ago, to the night when his life was changed. He had experienced several life changing events but never one quite like this. 

He remembered it like it was yesterday, telling a child who came into the bar that he couldn’t serve him. The child pretending like he had served in ‘Nam. Sam had gone off to his office at the point that Sumner and Diane had walked through the door but he came out to the telephone call.

Sam smiles to himself as he remembers how annoyed she seemed when he made her take a message for him from the woman he was avoiding. He recalled her saying he was “a magnificent pagan beast” and how he teased her even from the start, acting if she was actually saying that about him. 

From the start he had a different feeling about Diane, he felt as if she could be the person to make him happy for the rest of his life. He’d been crazy about her since their first interaction. He missed the way they drove each other up the wall. Even their fights and their passionate love making that occurred every time they reconciled. 

Sam missed the way her eyes would light up when she’d talk about some fancy pants, boring event. He never quite understood those things but it didn’t matter. Her excitement was enough to make his heart overflow. 

There wasn’t anything that he didn’t miss about Diane if Sam was honest. That beautiful smile that could light up a room, her contagious laugh, her quick wit, her caring heart that could never harm a fly, her independence— how she never really needed anyone, everything. Everything about the love of his life he missed. God he regretted getting off that plane to California. 

However, it was hard to stay on it. He didn’t blame his friends because he had his own self doubt but his friends lack of support got to him. It was part of why he back out, they had him thinking he was making a mistake. Perhaps he was, he couldn’t leave Cheers. That was nearly impossible to do. Would it have killed his friends to show some support? He always supported them in everything they did even if he didn’t see it working out. 

Sam shakes his head as he heads toward the bar once more to put away his cleaning supplies. He needed to get his head elsewhere before he dove too deep. He was lying if he said he wouldn’t do anything to see her again though, that was all he wanted.

The bar owner comes out from behind the bar and lets out a sigh, finally heading for the door to head out. He needed to go home and take a long shower so he could process everything that had happened today there. 

As he heads toward the door a knock suddenly comes at it. The bar owner raises a brow and assumes that it’s just a customer who didn’t realize they were closed. He hasn’t hit the light switch just yet after all. “I’m sorry we’re closed” Sam says as he walks toward the door, hitting the switch along the way.

The knock persists and Sam sighs. Perhaps they didn’t hear him for some reason even though his voice was rather loud. “I’m sorry, we’re closed” he says as he opens the wooden door. 

The brunette stops in his tracks when he sees who’s standing before him. She was still wearing the same outfit she had been in on the plane. There she stood, Diane Chambers in the flesh. Though he had seen her earlier today she didn’t seem real. It was hard for him to feel like seeing her was a real thing after not seeing her for six whole years. 

His heart almost stops as he stares at her, the wind had almost completely been knocked out of him. Sam couldn’t believe she was here. Why was she here? He suddenly wondered. 

Though it felt like he had stood there staring at her for several long minutes, it was only seconds. 

It was then that she found her hands on his cheeks pulling his lip to hers. She couldn’t help herself, seeing him brought back so many feelings. Diane had become overwhelmed with emotion and didn’t want to think for a second longer about any of this. She wanted him. 

At first Sam was shocked, not expecting her to act on her emotions like that. Diane was one who thought everything through until it killed her and rarely ever did things spontaneously. The shock fades as the kiss develops, his arms come around her familiar small figure pulling her closer to him. 

This felt right, like she was in the safest place in the world and noting could hurt her. Sam always had a way of making her feel incredibly safe. Not only because she loved him but also because he would do anything to protect her. That was something she always admired about him. 

The pair pulls away after a few more seconds and step back. They both look at each other for a moment, wondering what this meant. Diane wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of her life with him. They had already wasted so much time not being together and she couldn’t last another second. 

Sam is the first one to speak again, “I.. I wasn’t expecting to see you” is all he is able to come up with.

She nods, “I know... but I realized that I couldn’t continue on my life knowing that you still mean everything to me” Diane admits. 

The blonde steps further into the familiar room and it’s almost like all of her worries slip away. Diane felt a sense of peace, as if she was home again. She knew she was. It didn’t matter where in the world she went, she could live in a million different places and yet she’d always come back here and it would still be her home. 

It was the last place she had ever expected to call home. When she and her ex-fiancé had stepped in here many years ago she expected to be gone and never back again within an hour. Was she ever wrong about that. Five years of her life were spent here, building a special relationship with everyone in this bar. An exceptionally special relationship with the bar’s owner, he being the only man she had loved in ways she never thought possible. Some of her favorite memories lived in this place. Some of her favorite people worked in this place. It was no wonder she always came back. 

Sam wasn’t completely shocked by what she had admitted. He knew that from the moment they began flirting again while in Melville’s that the chemistry between them hadn’t gone away. The hours they had spent the previous night making love further proved that. Even after six years and who knew how many relationships both had, he and Diane were still the same. They loved each other and always would. 

Sam guessed that what Frasier had said was true. He remembered what Frasier said about them like it was yesterday. That they would always be hopelessly in love whether they liked it or not. 

The tall brunette steps forward again and takes his her hand in his, “you’re sure this is what you want? Because as much as I would love to move with you to California... we know I can’t leave this place. Boston is my home. Cheers is my home” he points out.

Diane lets out a breath, afraid that if she thought too much she’d convince herself out of this. She nods, “Cheers is my home too, always has been.”

Sam gives her a smile, she didn’t know how happy it made him to hear that. “Diane. This has been a long time coming” he says.

The blonde nods in agreement, no argument there. “To think we’ve been kept apart all this time by pride, fear, and blatant stupidity” she replies. 

“Hey it wasn’t all your fault” Sam teases with another charming smile.

They laugh and kiss again, his arms coming back around her waist as hers come around his neck. The two hold each other in a long kiss before breaking apart, sharing wide smiles. 

Sam then turns and leaves one arm around her waist, guiding her toward the door. “Come on let’s head back to my place. I think I still have some cheesecake from last night left” he jokes.

Diane laugh fills the air around them as he opens the door and guides her out. She felt like she was on cloud nine. There was nothing else in the world that felt right. 

Six years had nothing on them, Sam and Diane would always love each other. Nothing in the world could ever change that.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so shoutout to my friend Kaysi. She posted a tweet with a part of the script from 2x01, Power Play, and joked that it was how Cheers really ended. I got to thinking and thought I should write that. So I did! I put the script in, it’s the part where Sam says it was a long time coming. Thank you Kaysi for inspiring me! Also one more note: I didn’t hate the Cheers finale at all but one of the things that did upset me was Sam and Diane not being canon so I decided to fix that. Reviews are welcome!


End file.
